Girls basketball: Grayslake Central keeps its cool, avoids St. Viator’s upset bid
Nothing fazed Grayslake Central in Tuesday night’s North Chicago Class 3A girls basketball sectional semifinal.
Rams’ coach Steve Ikenn said a player joked at halftime that the 3-point deficit to St. Viator wasn’t as bad as chasing seven in last year’s sectional final comeback. A 1-point deficit after three quarters caused no distress.
The top-seeded Rams (27-5) went ahead to stay in the first minute of the fourth and calmly pulled away to a 52-43 victory over the fourth-seeded Lions (20-14).
“We’ll be OK is what we always say and we were able to turn it around,” Central senior Annie Wolff said after scoring 14 of her game-high 16 points in the second half.
“We had to come back out and reset, regroup and play our game,” said Green Bay-bound Central senior Madison Hoffmann. “We were definitely more patient, too, and we were able to get better looks and take better shots.”
Wolff, Peyton Hoffmann (14 points, 6 rebounds) and Mosey Drevline (11 points) all scored 6 points in a 20-10 fourth quarter where the Rams shot 7-for-10 from the floor. Their 11th consecutive win gives them a shot at a repeat sectional title at 6 p.m. Thursday against No. 2 Cary-Grove (25-7), a 46-41 winner over No. 3 Wauconda.
Senior Katelyn Marcelain (12 rebounds) hit a short jumper off 1 of Madison Hoffmann’s 5 assists to cap an 8-0 run for a 43-35 lead with 3:56 left. The 6-foot-1 Hoffman (9 points, 8 rebounds) used her length to contain Viator 5-7 freshman Ava Garcia (9 points on 4-for-10 shooting).
“One of our strengths is we have a veteran group of players,” Ikenn said. “They didn’t get down and didn’t panic.”
Neither did the Lions after trailing 12-2 to a team they lost to 40-32 in late December. One of three 3s by sophomore Bella Gounaris (11 points) put them up 23-20 at the break.
Garcia (12 rebounds, 4 assists) hit a 3 for a 31-29 lead. Sophomore Kalin McCrea (11 points, 4 assists) hit 2 free throws for a 33-32 edge after three.
“We were down 10 points before we knew it, but that shows the mental toughness and perseverance of our team,” second-year Viator coach Kyle Braheny said. “We kept our composure and stuck to the game plan and we were right there.”
Ellen Denten’s jumper got Viator within 43-37. Consecutive Wolff layups put Central up 47-37 at 1:51.
“I had to pick it up in the second half,” Wolff said of her 7-for-10 shooting. “My teammates were able to find me and we were all able to work together.”